Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has been fined by the NFL after writing the name Hind Rajab on his eye black during Houston's game against the Buffalo Bills, a tribute to a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in 2024. It is the second time in less than a year that Al-Shaair has drawn league discipline for a similar message honoring victims of the war.
According to The New York Times, the league confirmed a fine of $11,941 for the message, though Yahoo Sports reported the amount as $11,492. Al-Shaair displayed Hind Rajab's name on his eye black during Houston's game against the Bills, which the Texans lost 36-31, and he still turned in a team-high eight tackles that day, per the same Yahoo Sports report.
The fine, the report notes, stemmed from the NFL's rule against wearing personal messages not approved by the league, rather than from the pro-Palestinian content specifically. Hind Rajab was killed during a car attack by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024, alongside six family members, according to the seed reporting cited by The New York Times.
A Death That Drew International Attention
Hind Rajab was riding in a car with six family members when it came under Israeli fire in Gaza in January 2024, and her body was recovered 12 days later along with the bodies of two paramedics who had been sent to rescue her, according to CBS News. The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged for the first time that troops opened fire on the vehicle carrying Rajab's family, the outlet reported, and the killing has since become the subject of an Oscar-nominated film as well as the 2025 docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab.”
Her death became a symbol of Palestinian resistance, per the seed reporting from The New York Times. In August 2026, the Israeli military opened criminal investigations into Rajab's death and the deaths of the medical workers who were shelled while approaching her car in an ambulance, according to the same reporting.
A Second Fine for a Similar Message
This is not the first time Al-Shaair has faced NFL discipline for an eye-black tribute tied to the war in Gaza. He previously wrote “stop the genocide” on his eye black during warmups against the New England Patriots, and the league issued him a similar fine after he displayed that message during a wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the seed reporting. That earlier fine occurred in January 2026.
Reports on the amount of that prior fine also diverge: Yahoo Sports reported it as $11,593 in one account tied to the “stop the genocide” message. The same outlet noted that the league fined 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa $11,255 in 2024 for wearing a Make America Great Again hat on the field, a comparison Yahoo Sports drew when covering the NFL's personal-message rule.
Al-Shaair was told he would be pulled from the Texans' next game if he wore “stop the genocide” during that contest, according to the seed facts. KPRC 2 Houston was reported to be the outlet that first broke news of the newest fine.
Al-Shaair Says the Message Is Bigger Than Football
Al-Shaair has said he has no personal affiliation with the people involved beyond a shared humanity, according to the seed reporting. “At the end of the day, it's bigger than me,” he said, per the same account. He has also said that the events make people uncomfortable, and that people should imagine how those directly affected feel.
His activism did not begin with the eye-black messages. In December 2023, while playing for the Tennessee Titans, Al-Shaair chose to support the Palestine Children's Relief Fund through the NFL's My Cause, My Cleats initiative, according to The Times of Israel. Two months later, he was one of two active NFL players who signed the “Athletes for Ceasefire” letter calling for a ceasefire, the outlet reported.
Stalled Investigations and a Familiar Precedent
The Israeli military's criminal investigation into Rajab's death comes amid broader questions about accountability. An analysis by Action on Armed Violence found that 88% of 52 publicly acknowledged Israeli military investigations into alleged war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank stalled or closed without findings, CBS News reported.
Al-Shaair's protests also echo an earlier era of athlete activism in the league. Colin Kaepernick, protesting police brutality, refused to stand for the national anthem and was not fined or suspended by the NFL, according to a separate report from The Times of Israel. Whether Al-Shaair will continue displaying similar messages, and whether the league will keep fining him for it, remains to be seen.
